Sessions at SXSW Interactive 2012 about Social Networks on Sunday 11th March

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• Are We Killing Social with Social?

  by Caroline Giegerich, Chris Vennard, Jason Kapler, Lou Kerner and Tarah Feinberg

  Doesn’t it seem like a new social network launches every day? From geosocial to social TV, from social gaming to social news, it seems like we’re just adding a “social” layer to everything we do, online or offline. As a digital solution for seemingly every facet of human culture emerges, it’s starting to look a lot like...well, human culture, digitized.
  We have to ask: how many social networks are people willing to sign up for? Do people want a massive social network with everyone on it or are they more interested in niche networks focused on different passions? Maybe both. Or, maybe we’ll all just get sick of it and start mailing letters to each other again.

  To truly understand the human appetite for social, we will open the aperture of understanding social outside just social networks to examine how people are communicating with peers and brands in life as a whole. Some of our richest data today comes from forums or communities. As the world gets more digital and measurable, increasing our ability to capture people, places and things and the various activities and actions one can take within those combinations, the sharing of that information will be an essential extension of social.
  This session will explore why people keep signing up for new social networks, look at “social fatigue”, consider evolving human social behavior and, with the audience’s help, create a collective manifesto about how we will put the “social” back into “social networking”.

  • Social
  • Social Behavior
  • Social Media
  • Social Networks

  At 11:00am to 12:00pm, Sunday 11th March

  In Longhorn, Omni Downtown

• Mixel: Art, Tablets and the Creator Economy

  by Khoi Vinh

  What comes after just reading on iPad? A new form of creation that's much closer to consumption than what we saw on desktops and laptops. Mixel co-founder and CEO Khoi Vinh takes a look at the journey that led him to create Mixel, the world's first social collage app. Its goal is to get non-artists making art, and Vinh will look at the ways in which the social network has met, exceeded and fallen short of that goal.

  • Art
  • Creator Economy
  • Crowd Consumption
  • iPad
  • Social Networks
  • Startups

  At 12:30pm to 1:30pm, Sunday 11th March

  In Texas Ballroom 1-3, Hyatt Regency Austin

  Coverage audio clip

• Fulbright: How the 1st Social Network Adapts to SM

  by Doug Mitchell, Katie Day Good, Vijay Renganathan and Megan Neff

  Sixty years before Zuckerberg, Senator J. William Fulbright had a revolutionary idea: connect people around the world to share ideas. Born out of WWII, his vision was “public diplomacy”: exchange regular citizens of various countries to interact, share knowledge, become friends, and stay connected for life.

  In the social media era, are international exchange programs like Fulbright still relevant for public diplomacy? Can social networks create the same intercultural experiences online, serving more people at lower cost? Early Fulbrighters traveled on ships and stayed in touch by letter; now they fly and friend on Facebook. Have these programs outlived their usefulness when we can instantly Skype with anyone anywhere?

  The exploding number of Fulbright applications since 2001 says “no”. This panel will explore why, discussing the challenges and opportunities public diplomacy programs face in the digital age, and how participants are putting the internet at the center of their projects.

  • Diplomacy
  • Social Media
  • Social Networks

  At 3:30pm to 4:30pm, Sunday 11th March

  In Salon D, AT&T Conference Center

  Coverage audio clip

• New Media Strategies & Insights for Election 2012

  by Brian Athey, Danny Allen, Liz Mair and Todd Van Etten

  What emerging media strategies and tools will shape the 2012 campaigns?

  In 2008, text messages and branded social networks (MyBO, McCainSpace) changed the face of political campaigning forever. In the 2012 race, presidential candidates and their campaign staff are scrambling to find the next “new thing” to motivate and organize supporters. As rumors swirl that Barack Obama will raise over $1 billion by election day, candidates are avidly seeking ways to engage donors online and on mobile.

  A small panel of Washington insiders discuss how new media is shaping the 2012 campaigns and who is using the freshest technology to separate themselves from the pack and make a run for the White House.

  • 2012 Election
  • Elections
  • Social Networks

  At 5:00pm to 6:00pm, Sunday 11th March

  In Salon B, AT&T Conference Center

  Coverage audio clip

• Security and Privacy in Social Networks

  by John Adams and Eva Galperin

  This panel will explore the interplay between user privacy, social networking sites, law enforcement, and the teams of people that are tasked with both enforcing and protecting the users of these sites. We'll discuss best practices for protecting your company and your users and if you are a frequent user of social networking sites, you can learn how minimize the information that can be exposed about you in your travels online. We'll show you how we fight for the users, every day.

  • Law Enforcement
  • Privacy
  • Security
  • Social Networks

  At 5:00pm to 6:00pm, Sunday 11th March

  In Lone Star, Omni Downtown